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I was a victim of Racism…many times

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Last year I was the victim of a racist attack. 

Yes, I’m a white-guy, English speaker, American Patriot, veteran Army officer, heterosexual, a senior and…wait for it…a Conservative! Someone read a comment I made on a Facebook post during the summer of 2020 and replied that I couldn’t possibly understand what I was talking about because of my “white privilege.” They demanded that I apologize for commenting (even though my comments were respectful and rational) and accept my permanent privilege handicap. Well, no. I don’t go down that easily.

Since these were colleagues and long time acquaintances of mine, both white and black, I felt compelled to reply. So, I wrote a rather detailed summary of the difficulties and limitations I had to overcome in order to succeed in my career.

I was a Jim in the Jim Crow South

Having grown up in Little Rock, Arkansas during the 1950s and 60s, I often struggled with racial confrontations and closed-minded people both black and white. I’ve been intimidated, threatened with knives and guns, and surrounded by people who said they might kill me.

My father was a telephone repairman and we didn’t have much money. He was also a National Guard officer and served during the Little Rock Central High School racial conflict in 1957. I had no connections in the community, no college degree, no special skills and no big dreams of success. I expected to be a nice person but an ordinary and unremarkable one. I was not an excellent student, had never been an athlete and didn’t run with a crowd of privileged people. We were working-class folks who knew that, if we wanted anything, we would have to work for it.

Start at the bottom 

Since I had no college degree I worked in warehouses, unloaded boxcars and trucks, drove delivery  trucks, swept floors, shoveled dirt and gravel, cleaned storerooms, stacked boxes, and even worked one miserable day in a factory. I quit that job before it had a chance to reorient me to drone status. I was a bill collector for four years and had to go alone into the rougher parts of town often at night to call on customers who did not want to see me. I had to repossess log trucks in the Ozark mountains too. You could argue that at least I got those jobs and it was probably because of my skin color. Not true.

I got the jobs because I walked door to door and applied for work anywhere and everywhere until I finally found a job. A minimum wage ($1.25 an hour) job in most cases. I was turned away more often than accepted. There were black employees there too and I answered to them much of the time. I was the underling. They were the supervisors.

In one instance my job was in a grocery warehouse and I worked long shifts unloading boxcars and driving a fork lift. My boss was white and my coworkers were black. At night I would have to walk two miles from the warehouse through the East End of Little Rock, an all-black part of town with numerous gangs, to my roommate’s place of work so that he could give me a ride home. I was frequently challenged, threatened and ridiculed during those walks. It was scary and humiliating. We lived in a cheap apartment with a bad roach problem.

When I was in basic training in the Army my training company was heavily black and we few whites were constantly “dissed” and threatened. My platoon sergeant was a black man, who I respected, and he had two associates who were also black. When they spoke, I jumped. It was not OK to talk back. After the Army I worked at the Housing Authority as a low-level clerk whose job was to interview people in distressed housing and help them get rehabilitation loans to fix up their homes. I worked only with blacks in this position. I could go on but I think you get the point.

Now we see who he really is!

The “racist attack” was a pile on through emails, phone calls and social media by a number of people both black and white in my professional association. They were completely enraged by my unwillingness to embrace “white privilege” and apologize for expressing my opinion. They organized discussions about me without my knowledge. They threatened to file ethics charges against me. There were no grounds for such a charge, but for the woke Left, accusation is the same as guilt. Then they can say you have been accused even if you weren’t guilty. The label still sticks. The worst part of all of this was its impact on my professional reputation.

I was informed by friends that there had been a lot of talk about me lately and some people were pretty angry. Nobody confronted me directly, that would require rational thinking and open discussion. My accusers all agreed with the woke point of view and so there was no real “discussion”, it was just accusations and agreement. They said, “He’s one of the big names in our profession, and now we’ve finally found out what he is really like!” Forty years I’ve been active in the field of professional speaking and training, served as the National President of the National Speakers Association, and worked with thousands of colleagues, and now they think I’m someone different?

Not being one who leaves such things unaddressed, I contacted the national headquarters of my association and presented the facts. I also spoke with some woke-sympathetic black colleagues so they could “educate” me as to how I was wrong. But, again, where was my crime or sin or error? All I had done was present verifiable facts that contradicted the popular opinions of that group, and I did so in a respectful way, not as an angry protestor.

“Jim, you didn’t have to have ‘the talk’ with your Dad before you drove your car.” No, I didn’t but I was pulled over and threatened more than once when I was driving through a distressed area. “What are you doing here white boy?”

No, I’ve never been black, but I have also never been confined to a wheel chair, or had much of my skin burned off, or been afflicted with a speech impediment or had cerebral palsy. But that doesn’t keep me from understanding the fears, frustrations and challenges that my friends who actually do have these conditions are facing. That doesn’t keep me from being sympathetic, respectful and encouraging to them. I’m not a racist, sexist, Marxist, Fascist, Ageist, or many other “ist-types”. But I have experienced racism, discrimination and threats just based on being who I am.

Quit your belly aching

Before you interpret the above as whining, let me say this: I am super-blessed! My life has been wonderful despite the difficulties. I live in America, the most race-friendly country in history and the most free country on Earth. Tens of thousands of immigrants come here seeking to upgrade to our set of problems. They say “Let me in! I want what you have.”

My career has been challenging but it has paid off wonderfully. I have a great family, good health, wonderful friends, Intelligent colleagues, and a life that I thank God for every day.

No doubt much of this also applies to you. Though we do have problems in America, we amplify them too much. It’s as if we got free tickets to a great concert but had some taller people sitting in front of us and our chairs were uncomfortable. What about the concert and the free tickets? Stop complaining. Just fix the problems please.

America has acquired a bad habit of whining! It’s time we grew up and got over our discomfort. Sure times are tough occasionally, and for some, almost constantly, but we all have it so good here! Let’s learn to become more appreciative and thankful. Race is not an issue worth fighting about. Let’s celebrate the human race and show the few racists how miserable they are compared to us. We can eliminate racism in America within one generation by simply refusing to consider it a limiting factor. Stop measuring it, talking about it, or fighting over it. Put down the signs, change your marches into celebrations of the good in America. Don’t try to make everyone comfortable, instead make yourself a better person and help others to do the same. Make America Grateful Again!

 

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Jim Cathcart, CSP, CPAE is an Executive MBA Professor, Author of 21 books, Hall of Fame Professional Speaker, Top 1% TEDx video (2.4 million views), US Army veteran, Singer/Songwriter, and Lifelong Motorcyclist. He is known as "Your Virtual VP" for his Advisory/Mentor work with organizations worldwide. Based in Texas...and proud of it!



 
 
 

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Education

The Rise of Mark Robinson and the Benefit to North Carolina

He will win the governorship of North Carolina, be an excellent governor, and have a greater political future ahead of him

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Mark Robinson, if you are not aware, is currently North Carolina’s lieutenant governor. He is someone who made himself a success, despite coming from a background of extreme hardship. He was born in Greensboro, North Carolina, the 9th of 10 children. His upbringing, amidst alcoholism and domestic violence, was nowhere near what you would want for a growing child.

Onward and Upward

Robinson’s mother imbued in her children a sense of responsibility, and let them know in actions and words that perseverance, hard work, and devotion to God would be their best ticket to a rewarding life. Robinson absorbed the message at an early age.

Among the many stops in his personal journey, he served as a medical specialist in the Army reserves. He also worked in manufacturing, and then ran a small business with his wife. When the North American Free Trade Act (NAFTA) was passed his small business and career endeavors dissolved.

At one point, nearly 20 years ago, he had to declare bankruptcy. Despite his financial hardships he soldiered on. Eventually, he became North Carolina’s first Black lieutenant governor. As such, he has traveled extensively throughout the state, talking to people of every race, profession, trade, income level, education level, and inclination.

Now is the Time

Robinson knows the people of North Carolina perhaps as well as anyone could. Once he decided to run for governor a wellspring of voters emerged eager to see him succeed, because they know the man. Married for now 30+ years, with two children and two grandchildren, Robinson has vowed to be the education governor and the business enterprise governor that North Carolina wants and needs.

In the coming weeks and months, however, much of what you read about Robinson in the mainstream press will ignore his accomplishments, his vision, and the fundamental reasons that so many North Carolinians of all races want him to be the next governor.

The Left is so pathetically predictable that I can tell you with complete accuracy how they respond to Black conservatives. On cue, without missing a beat, the day after Mark Robinson won the Republican primary for governor in North Carolina, the vicious press, putting in overtime, went to work. Nine of 10 articles that you would encounter on Mark Robinson were complete hit jobs, taking his words and phrases out of context.

The same was true on the internet. Google, among the most evil companies that has ever appeared on Earth, with their oh-so-mysterious algorithms, made sure that nothing good was said about Mark Robinson until about the 12th listing. Even then, Google followed with more hit pieces.

We All Know Exactly Why

Why does the Left so thoroughly despise Black conservatives? Why does the Left disparage them at every turn, such as Jason Whitlock, Star Parker, Condoleezza Rice, Alan Keyes, Larry Elder, Candace Owens, Allen West, and Senator Tim Scott? Because the mere existence of a Black conservative upsets everything that the Left stands for, such as “keeping Blacks in their place,” ensuring they never dare to leave the liberal plantation, and hoping that they don’t have an original political thought.

Traditionally, Democrats retained many Black voters at the national, state, and local level through campaign promises, while never consistently delivering on them. And now, as we approach November 2024, they are losing their grip. Survey after survey reveals that Donald Trump is gaining major ground among Black voters, other minorities, young people, and suburban women.

The press will nitpick about statements Robinson made years and decades ago. They’ll claim he’s an anti-Semite. They’ll say he is ‘against his own people.’ They will attempt to demonize him. Don’t fall for any of it.

Making His Mark

Robinson spoke at CPAC 2024 and, while he only had 12 minutes, he brought down the house. At another gathering, he spoke for less than 90 seconds about why reparations are a bad idea. He laid out in the most logical manner why people today who claim they deserve reparations are the ones who owe others, mainly the Black pioneers who came before them. It is a brilliant piece of rhetoric that everyone, everywhere should hear.

Mark Robinson is the candidate whose time is now. He will win the governorship of North Carolina, be an excellent governor, and have a greater political future ahead of him. Donald Trump strongly endorsed him and one can foresee a time in which Robinson will have important business to do in Washington, DC.

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Life

A World of Possibilities for Each Of Us

Let us be free to like what we like and not have others be the gatekeepers of our intellectual pursuits

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I read a remarkable Letter to the Editor in a college newspaper, from a young black student. The point of his letter was so amazing and its insights so profound that it needs to be shared across the country for everyone, of all races.

This student wrote that, as a black male, it would inaccurate to make judgments about him without knowing him personally. He highlighted, for example, that while he likes some rap music, he much prefers traditional rock and roll, and even an occasional country song.

Is Your Bias Showing?

He wrote that if you think a black student should not like country music then your bias is showing. Why couldn’t a student, of any race or ethnicity, enjoy a particular type of music even if it’s not traditionally ascribed to his or her particular group? Who is in control here?

He likes historical novels, modern novels, biographies, and autobiographies. He was captivated by a biography about the Wright Brothers. He enjoys poetry and finds the poems from many writers to be relevant to him, from Maya Angelou to Carl Sandberg.

He suggests that there is a world of possibilities when it comes to entertainment, music, and literature. Why, he asks, must we be confined to the narrow band of choices that others, particularly within our own races and ethnicities, suggest that we adhere to? Who decides what is best for all members of a particular group? On what do they base their decisions?

Who Chooses?

Who determined that venturing outside of such restrictive limits is somehow being a traitor to one’s group? And what does it mean to even be a traitor when it comes to literature, history, music, and so on?

He pointed out in the most eloquent of terms that following the dictates of a small section of the populace and adhering to the stereotypes that prevail are extremely limiting to one’s personal freedom and an attack on one’s individuality and, potentially, creativity.

With so many experiences and possibilities that one can enjoy, he ponders, why limit yourself, especially at the age of 19, 20, or 21 to predefined, limiting confines?

No Free for All

I marveled at this young man’s wisdom which seems to transcend his years. I certainly was not as wise and perceptive myself at that age.

Over the next few days, I was eager to see if there would be any responses to his letter. Surely, he’s going to get some blowback. Someone of his own race will tell him that he needs to get “back in his lane.” Someone will tell him he’s “not acting black,” or not black enough. Somebody else will say that he’s been brainwashed, probably from an early age and he’s trying to capitulate to the predominant Caucasian culture. Someone might call him an “Uncle Tom.”

While I was monitoring the publication, actually nothing was said of his letter. I hoped maybe somebody else, or lots of somebody else’s, understood the man’s viewpoint. They could see the wisdom in his observations. I thought perhaps someone would comment in that direction, but that didn’t happen either.

Free to Choose

In the larger sense, it’s a shame that blacks and other minorities, as well as Caucasians, are supposed to act this way or that way. Hispanics are supposed to prefer this versus that. Asians are supposed to do this versus that. Why, exactly, do these illegitimate confines continue to rule the perceptions of vast numbers of our population?

Why can’t we be free to like what we like, to prefer what we prefer, and have others not be the gatekeepers of our intellectual pursuits?

I have no knowledge of this young man and how he has fared in his studies and overall life. I surmise that whatever he’s doing, whether it’s continuing in his education, landing a job, entering the military, volunteering, traveling, or simply taking time off, he will continue to pursue his interests and remain unique.

Bound for Success

Hopefully, he’ll continue to sidestep unwarranted, prevailing norms that dictate what he can like, think, and be. May we all strive to have such personal freedom.

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